Movie Natters: April 10, 2009 Archive

A group of about 70 people holed up in the AMC Southdale Thursday became the first members of the general public to see "Up" the new offering from Pixar. The movie is likely to be one of the hot releases when it comes out in late May.

Thursday's screening wasn't without a little drama though. It started more than three-quarters of an hour late, which is never good when a large proportion of your audience is under the age of 10, as was the case yesterday.

Let's just say there was a lot of energy in the theater, and a lot of popcorn on the floor.

The delay it turned out was because the movie was so new it was delivered on a hard-drive handcuffed to a security guard. Actually the delivery was on time, but the package lacked the vital cord which the theater staff needed to download the movie to the theater's server.

Someone was dispatched to the local Radio Shack to get a replacement, but the film was still downloading when the audience arrived. The gathering press reps were all advised about the delay and the mass of youngsters inside, and some of us decided to take advantage of the pleasant weather outside for half an hour.

It has to be said, the wait was worthwhile. "Up" is at times quite breathtaking. The film was so new it didn't have credits at the end yet.

After the show the security folks watched as the movie was erased from the server, and the drive was handcuffed again to the minder, and off it flew again to Pixar HQ.